It’s our second 90+ degree day with the hottest day expected tomorrow. I was just looking out of my bathroom window at my nice green lawn thinking, “Thank goodness for our irrigation system!” I was getting exhausted just thinking about watering everything by hand/sprinkler like I did the first summer we lived here and it was a LOT of work. Of course, I had a lot less garden, but still, there was enough. I feel bad for home owners without irrigation systems. Our HOA mandates green lawns which I agree look nice, but sure are a waste of water as I would be perfectly happy to let my lawn go dormant. Either way, at least I don’t have to worry about anything other than paying the water bill these days. My irrigation system is currently set to run through my 7 zones in 60 minutes which seems to do the trick. Though, even with irrigation, I still had to provide some supplemental water in the evening last night to some of the drier areas though I am taking the night off tonight. Then of course, the kids had a blast jumping through the sprinkler last night after dinner. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! The dry patch of grass got watered and the kids were entertained. This afternoon the kiddie pool watered a different dry patch as a 1 and 2 year old enjoy making sure water gets out of the pool as quickly as possible, though all in good fun.
Newly blooming:
- Japanese anemone/windflower, Anemone x hybrida
- Balloon flower/ Chinese Bellflower, Platycodon grandiflorus
Here’s a catalog link to a really great idea to incorporate into a garden for kids, a Fairy Garden.
The catalog has many many wonderful children’s items though not inexpensive. I think I am going to try to see if I can come up with my own fairy garden by borrowing the catalog’s concept and perhaps just purchasing the fairies. My daughter saw the picture and said sadly that our garden doesn’t have fairies for her to play with. I suggested that if she keeps her eyes open, perhaps one day the fairies might visit. I’ll let you know if any fairies move in!
Just a little weeding and plant relocation in the front yard. K was drawing with chalk on the driveway and I got some work done. She drew a real-looking fish for the first time! I also have a very good little weeding helper. I loosen the weed and K pulls it out and carries the bucket.
Over the weekend I pulled weeds from a new section of my slope flower bed and mulched the remaining existing flower beds that were still bare. Now I just I have to mulch the new slope beds, but I need to do a lot more weeding first, hopefully throughout this coming week. I also planted a pot of wildflowers that I had sown from seed last year. Actually, some of last years wildflowers actually came up and are blooming on my slope. I’m hoping more will take off.
Also, for the first time last night it was warm enough that the slugs were out and so I was out with my ammonia mixture and spray bottle. See my tips and tricks page for details. The slugs I hit were small, plentiful, and now dead and even more slimy. I’ll keep you posted as to how my slugs are this year as I aim to be vigilant. So far there is just very minimal slug damage mainly because it has been so cool outside.
Today, my 2 and a half year old and I sowed seeds into little starter pots. We planted cut and come again zinnia, little bear pumpkins, sunflowers, butterfly weed and bachelor buttons. It will be fun to see how quickly they germinate and what my daughter’s reaction will be.
Otherwise, my daughters and I spent about an hour picnicking and playing in the backyard after I mowed the lawn. It was sunny, 67 degrees with a pleasant breeze. It was very peaceful and relaxing and it’s for moments like these that I work so hard on my yard. The flowers were blooming, the birds were frequent and the only thing missing was my husband who had to fly to California for an early Monday AM meeting. Otherwise, it was the perfect family time.
I spent yesterday spreading 4 bags of shredded bark mulch on one of my remaining two un-mulched flower beds. My 2 and half year old kept busy by blowing every dandelion seed head into the wind that she could find in my meadow area. I just watched the seeds fly around and know I will be pulling weeds for months to come. Of course, I helped blow every seed head my daughter brought me never letting on how conflicted I was feeling about the fun we were having. Every new dandelion I will have to pull out of my flower bed later will well be worth it as long as I remember that my daughter helped to “plant” them. I also washed and polished my hanging copper pots so that they would be ready for their summer plantings as well. The white wooden rocking chairs and outdoor furniture also had a good cleaning. I can’t wait for summer to get here!
Some new blooms:
